Video Games and Learning

What, exactly, does Gee claim about the role of games in classroom instruction?
Gee mentioned three key points:

1. Games can trigger a part in the brain that gives emotional meaning to things which enables people to process information with empathy.
    
2. The violence issue in games is a hot topic for politicians because it gets a lot of attention.  There are  many games that are not violent.  He said, “I don't know any rational person that doesn't advocate having controls on games in ways young people shouldn't be playing adult games, just as we do with movies and books and other things. Violence is carried by the culture. It's all about contacts.  So a violent book or video game in the hands of a person who's a disturbed child or in a disturbed culture is dangerous, and we should worry about the disturbed culture and child.”
    
3. Video games are not killing reading and writing, instead, it’s changing the paradigm of reading and writing.  Students can read and write in chat rooms, in the games and the forums.  They read more about their interest and some of the things they read are of even higher level of language and skill compared to what are given to them to read in classrooms.

How, according to the video, does learning-with-games occur?  Are these views supported by the theories discussed in previous sections of this module?

According to the video,

• games provide students the learning skills to virtually get them engaged in the modern working world. This view is supported by conditioning theory as associative learning takes place when some virtual world games are being related by learners to their own real-life experiences.  Positive reinforcements are added to games through earning scores/points to reward the students foraccomplishing the desired tasks; or negative reinforcements are given to learners for correction.

• students work together as social networks, where some work as experts and others as novices. This view is supported by the social constructivist theory of learning. They learn from one another and gather techniques and strategies, and then they use the gathered expertiseto their advantage.

• the language of games are almost second nature to most children now, therefore learners are now challenged to design and build their own games. This view is supported by the embodiment theory.  First, learners are exposed to thefamiliar game scenarios, then the rest of the game designing depends on their creativity andcritical thinking abilities.  And because they build their own game for other people, they haveto think differently about game designing by being sensitive to the learning needs of their game users.

Learning about Learning

Think back to positive and/or important learning experiences that you've had - whether in school or outside school. Describe the context. What was going on? Who was there? How did you feel? What were you doing? What do you feel facilitated your learning? What made this learning experience such a positive one?  Five years ago, my family decided to go back to the Philippines for a vacation.  To make the trip more meaningful, we decided to ask friends and coworkers for donations of toys, canned goods, and school supplies that we could take to the Philippines to distribute to people in need.  It became a life changing experience for me when I involved my two young daughters in personally handing out these resources to poor families, blind people, and needy children. 

I made arrangements with a teacher from a low-budget public school for my daughters to spend a couple of days in the classroom with Filipino children.  I wanted my girls to understand how Filipino children live a life of hope and contentment even if they are growing up in a developing country and don’t have things that most people in USA take for granted.  

This was an outside-school learning experience for me and my family and helped me to realize that learning is more meaningful when undertaken at the actual setting rather than just talking about it in the comfort of our American house or an American classroom.  My family had the opportunity to see firsthand true-to-life experiences of people living in a different culture, which facilitated empathetic thinking and encouraged social responsibility.

 
How would you describe the context of learning in the video?  This video demonstrated how Kevin and Ryan,two students from Shorecrest High School, applied core knowledge of science, math, grammar and writing they have learned in a classroom to real-life projects outside the classroom to further reinforce meaningful experiences.  They developed skills in multimedia design and took unpaid internship with Seattle's Space Needle Corporation to receive academic credit.  Their developed interest and expertise led them to their internship at Microsoft. This is a great approach to having a better learning experience, that is, through applying the knowledge and skills learned in school to the real world.

Remembering our earlier discussions of cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes to learning, how would you describe the students' learning in the video? Do you notice any similarities or differences with your own account of powerful learning?  We previously learned that knowledge cannot be separated from affective (feeling) components.  This was illustrated in the video when the two students displayed commitment and motivation while working on the project.  I see similarities between my learning and their learning when we were all given an opportunity to be exposed to real-life situations.  We were able to express our desire to be creative in gaining the learning experiences, the drive, and the inspiration to produce quality work. 

Understanding Student Understanding (Part 2)

• What did you learn about understanding student understanding? I have learned that we can use interviewing to understand student understanding.  Students' answers on tests don't always demonstrate their true level of understanding.  Oftentimes, students understand more than their answers on their exams because they are limited to answer what they have memorized or taught to know.  The interview’s goal is not to quiz the students but rather to use as an approach to dig deeper into the levels of students' understanding.

• How might you apply the audio technology in your classrooom? I can use the audio technology by recording life testimonials of our adult students who have been through the hard times of finding jobs after being out of work due to our tough economic times. These students are from our school’s career programs and can talk about how their struggles and challenges motivated them to go back to school and learn more skills for job placement. These audio recordings will be turned to podcasts and will be posted on our website.  These podcasts will become a collection of stories that will uplift and move listeners who have the same life experiences.

• What did you learn about the kind of learning experiences that will move students toward deeper understanding?  The kind of learning experiences that can move students toward deeper understanding are the ones that can stimulate cognitive thinking and can generate knowledge and skills that are transferable for practical learning.  Through these
  learning experiences (like project-based applied learning approach), students acquire the logical reasoning and competence
  to understand how to apply the concepts, lessons, or projects to more meaningful or useful tasks to produce significant learning outcomes.  

• Is there a feasible way to provide these experiences in the traditional classroom? Absolutely!  I think it should be a must in a traditional classroom.  Examples on how to provide these learning experiences would be: problem solving using real-world and practical scenarios for students to solve; hands-on projects through the use simulated environment, and role playing.    

Powerful Learning (Part 1) - Podcast

How Relevant is Facebook to Learning?

I have interviewed and asked the same questions to two people to find out their understanding of Facebook and to get their views whether Facebook can be used for learning.  The main goal of this project is for me to have a powerful learning experience of understanding student understanding.  Listen to the podcast and find out if the goal has been achieved.

Understanding Student Understanding (Part 1)

What are your thoughts about the Norman (2002) article?  I think Norman’s concept of defining good design encourages us to realize that we should balance the product’s functionality and its aesthetic appeal when designing a product.  As educators, this approach can be applied to choosing what technology tools we should integrate in our courses to facilitate  teaching practices and student understanding.  These chosen tools should be relevant and intuitive and should not impede learning due to its complexity or  “inflated beauty” that covers up the course content.

We should embrace the fact that learning is always changing and schools need to accommodate the results of the 21st century innovative changes.  I’m optimistic about these new opportunities of unlimited access to technology tools to harness teaching and learning.  I still wonder though, whether balancing functionality and beauty are the only attributes that we should consider when choosing tools for learning?

More generally, what do you think about technology's potential for creating powerful learning experiences?  I think technology has definitely a great potential for creating powerful learning experiences ONLY if we realize that technology is a medium to enhance learning and not a substitute for teaching.  It should be used to cultivate students’ intelligence and talents and to stimulate their desire and energy to learn.

One criticism of this view, for example, is that "bells and whistles" distract from core content, wasting money on technological fads rather than investing in human resources. What is your opinion?  This criticism can be true.  We see it happen more often due to the evolving culture of learning.    I was in a training where a teacher took half of her lecture hour trying to get her presentation displayed on the new interactive whiteboard.  As soon as it worked, she presented a migraine-generating, 30-second outline of what was to be discussed that included only text animations and no real content.  She only wanted to use the smartboard for show and not for delivering information.

BUT if we invest in people who apply the TPACK model as they integrate technology in teaching then the balance and relationship of the three primary forms of knowledge: content, pedagogy, technology will be addressed properly.